Labours of Love
by Absol Master
Summary: /So take the ship, now, and take my heart with you. And never forget those days, when we shared our bread beneath the leaf-laden boughs of the Shire./ My first dip into LOTR fanfiction.


I just finished LOTR last month. I'm quite sure most of you would agree that it is **awesome. **Anyway, I finally decided to write for it. This was the first inspiration I obtained—so here. Slash pairing? You decide yourself.

My first fanfic outside of Pokemon/FE/MapleStory. Unless you count the Maple/Greek Mythology crossover.

I mention elves and men passing through the Shire somewhere in the fic, even though it's under Aragorn's protection. I'm just assuming that they were invited to come. Either way, I doubt the Shire will ever be entirely man- and elf-free.

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labours of love

Take the ship, now, and take my heart with you.

Do you still remember those days, master? Those pleasant summer days in the years gone by, when we would lie together in the Shire sun, a basket of bread between us; do you remember? Our bread was so sweet, almost a shadow of the elves' waybread, I could even venture to say—the food that sustained us in the darkest days of our lives.

When had our wheat crop grown so sweet? It must be the dust that Galadriel gave us; such a blessing it was.

Do you remember, too, how we would eat to our contentment, the sun in our faces? I would smile for the way the blue firmament lit those eyes of yours—eyes I had once seen so rife with torment, so deep with sorrow, eyes more brilliant than the stars.

_Like oceans of moonlight. Like the elf queen's Mirror._

I do hope you remember, for these are the moments you will take with you till you die—and so will I. Oh, how you would doze off in the grass-green warmth at my side, and I would watch over you, a silent guardian—never smiling, though the skies were so blue, the sun so inviting! I would watch steadfast while you slept, for I feared that if I turned away, the darkness would come to snatch you back, after all these years.

And ever so often, too, it came—once a year, at the anniversary of the Wound. And how I fought to protect you every time, master! In your sleep I would bathe you and clothe you, and lay you in your bed beside a bowl of herbs—always unseen, always unheard. I fought with love, and hope, and the strength that you once taught me to wield. For I thought that if I fought hard enough, I could keep you at my side forever.

But the world often springs such nasty surprises, doesn't it?

Then I remember how you would awaken from your sleep to find me gazing into the sky, and not realize that I had been keeping watch all the while. I remember how you would rise from the roots to go home, and I would follow unheard.

And never once did I tell you of the countless acts I performed for you—for selflessness wants no attention, and I know I need it not.

I never once dreamt that our lives would end like this. I always thought that these days would go on forever—three little hobbits living in a home of comfort and life and love. How we would walk the world in wonder, and the everlasting elves would always gaze at us with old eyes, wondering how it was that we found such warmth in each other! How the men would come by, once in a while, and appraise our beautiful garden, crafted by the rugged hands of a lower people!

That divine life—it was never to be. Never, from the moment that accursed Ring slipped into your hand, and whisked you from my world forever.

_I held It once, too; does that change anything?_

But I do know this. I know that from today into the years ahead, life will never be the same again, for both of us. Soon, you will be sailing the westerly winds into the mists, into a world from which you will never return.

_Will we ever again lie together in the summer sun? Will we ever again share the humble food of the Shire, carelessly watching as the sun crosses the sky?_

My young master, you know that I love you. And I know that where you go, there will be no one—no one to stand guard when you sleep, no one to cook dinner for you, no one to tend your wounds.

Yet will there ever be a need for such menial duties anymore, once you are in paradise? I like to believe not, for your sake. And I pray to great Elbereth, in Her throne of starlight, that without me your world will continue to turn—though I will never see or share in your joy, and you will never know how much I once gave, to see you smile.

But selflessness wants no attention, and I know I need it not.

So I sail into my own grey distances, and you sail into yours. This is where we end, and where we change forever. Neither of us knows what lies ahead, and before us the moon mist is blurred.

But if my sheer love would protect you, then you are guarded for a million years.

And you must know—_always—_that no matter where you go, as long as you can still see the fair sun we once shared, my love will follow you there. Watching over you, guarding you, tending your wounds with gentleness, just as I did.

So take the ship, now, and take my heart with you. Remember to keep it safe, safe from storm and hail—and I promise I will find you again, when the window opens once more.


End file.
